Italian food for the student budget

For two nights in a row now, I have gotten carry-out from Zio Johno's Spaghetti House, located at 953 S. Riverside Dr. in Iowa City. These two occasions were the first two times I had ever had Zio Johno's in my four years of college. I have long known about it, but I avoided it for mainly two reasons: A) I try to avoid Italian places with the word "spaghetti" in their names because of a place called the Spaghetti Warehouse in my hometown and B) because it is located next to a Panchero's (yuck!).

Anyway, since I ate there for two nights in a row, I obviously like it, and here's why: they give you a ton of food for a small price and it tastes pretty good.

I was exploring their online menu on Monday and discovered a section on the site with some unbelievable specials for carry-out and delivery orders only. Upon seeing these specials, I didn't even bother with the menu anymore.

The first day I got the Chicken Salad Extravaganza. For $6.99, I got a huge salad and a 16-inch loaf of garlic bread. This was plenty for two people, so needless to say I had enough leftovers for a nice lunch the next day.

Yesterday my girlfriend and I split the Sicilian Feast, which is meant for six people. For only $15.99, or $8.00 each, we received one 1/2 gallon of spaghetti with meat sauce, a 12-inch 1-topping pizza, and a 16-inch loaf of garlic bread. We looked at the amount of food in front of us, said, "Oh my God, what have we done?" and dug in. We didn't get very far into the meal before we were stuffed. We split the leftovers, and I myself have enough food for two, if not three more meals.

Everything I've had there has been pretty delicious, and it becomes even better when you consider the price. My least favorite dish thus far was the spaghetti and meat sauce. It was better than I expected and I did enjoy it, but nothing compares to my Mom's spaghetti and meatballs.

The salad and pizza were pretty awesome. The garlic pretty is decent. Like I said, it's good but gets even better when you consider the low price and the amount of food you're receiving. If you're on a small budget and need a few days worth of meals for the price of one, check out the specials at Zio Johno's. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, and they also have gyros, which might be a future blog topic...